Bedtime stories
by ArielBlog
Summary: Laurel and Frank are trying to protect the baby of their new client.


**A/N: Hey, guys, I was really happy about all your reviews to my first work, and so I decided to write more. This is a story mostly about Flaurel and the baby of their client, who they are trying to protect. But there will be some parts of the investigation and stuff… Sorry for the billion of mistakes, English is not my first language. Anyway, hope, you'll enjoy it!**

Chapter 1.

Dark was the evening. The withered leaves were swirled by the wind. Laurel was returning home after the hard working day. Professor Keating today was not in a good mood. Honestly, she like saw red – she was yelling all day long, distracting them from the dealing with the case. Laurel angrily gave a kick at the ground (which surely wasn't guilty in her own dumps) and broke into quick time. Without a doubt, her blue mood was not about Annalise and the case. The case was that to protect the welsher, and Laurel was allergic to defense of men without scruples. Her conscience didn't sanction it, but Annalise, the other way round, did. And in the fight between the conscience and professor Keating, unfortunately to Laurel, won professor. But all these things suddenly were relegated to the background – the case and even _the_ Annalise. And it all was about Frank.

Laurel almost caught a breath. The cold autumnal air passed into her lungs and froze there as a nail-biting wait. _For something good_, she thought. _Please, please, please, _Laurel bagged someone inevasible, trying to breathe, _please let it be good. _As _it _she meant her and Frank's relationships. Well… Laurel was not sure, that she could really name their _just-sex-and-a-little-bit-of-hot-glances-during-the-hearing _by such a great word as _relationships, _but she did hope so. Because she desperately needed it. Like a little girl, leaved to sink or swim. Dabbled in the ocean of incomprehension. Breathless. And for the rescue she stood in need of love. The love of the certain man. Named Frank. But it seemed, like it was win-win for him. The sex and nothing else.

Laurel did not plan to fall in love. More importantly, she did not want to fall in love with _Frank_.

But she did. It just happened.

And now she needed him, like she never have needed anyone.

Laurel tried to distract of her thoughts, looking around. She was almost home. Laurel turned left and started to pass the playground. Mornings here usually were many kids with their mothers. The kids were screaming, running, pushing each other on the ground and laughing. They all were so different and bright – girls in cute pink dresses, boys in small bomber jackets. And they were smiling time and again, it seemed, like everything was inspiring them and was making them happy. The children, Laurel knew, were an absolutely amusing and special public. Because they could be happy at every moment and they could make happy the grown-ups – even if their life was, frankly speaking, sucks.

Laurel smiled. She just loved children. Passing the playground at full lick, Laurel suddenly stopped and sat on the swings. The swings were ancient and grating. Children didn't like them – during the teeter they did creak dangerously, and the kids did afraid to fall down. So, children usually passed by the ancient swings, preferring hills and rope ladders.

The ring melody of her cell phone interrupted the thread of her thoughts. Laurel made a wry face. It was Bonnie.

"Hey," she answered, trying to seem quiet. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," Bonnie said. "There is a new case; it's very serious and important. Annalise wanted all of you to be here as soon as it possible."

"But it's-" Laurel was on the point to say that it happened to be late, and Annalise had let them go home to relax and to sleep.

"It's _an emergency,_" Bonnie snapped out and hanged up the phone.

"Well, thanks for the great evening," Laurel mumbled, rising to her feet. Maybe she didn't want to work all night long, or maybe just didn't want to see Frank. It was kind of complicated.

Wes, Connor, Asher and Michaela were sitting in the living-room. Connor was texting to someone. Wes was weary.

"What's the emergency?" Laurel didn't take off her coat and sat on the armrest, next to Wes.

"I have no-o-o idea," dwelling on a word, answered Connor. He couldn't tear himself from his phone.

"Annalise still not here," explained Wes. "She received a call from that new mystery client and got off the house… So, we are waiting."

"She's driving me crazy sometimes," Michaela rolled her eyes up and carefully tidied her hair. "What the hell is this client, that we can't sleep and-"

"And you can say goodbye to the trophy, Miss Pratt," unlikely, at the same moment Michaela was speaking, Annalise came into the house. She was tired as all her students were. It was a terrible day.

"Who is our new client?" wondered Wes.

Frank came into the living-room as the Wes's question went. Frank looked exhausting, holding something big and pretty heavy in his arms. It was a safety cradle.

"Wait," Asher ducked as he saw Frank was going to put the cradle next to him. "There is a joke or something, right? In this thing… There is a bomb? Or something more interesting?"

He meant _it's not a real baby there, right?! _

"Something worse," Frank chuckled and put the cradle on the couch.

"Seriously?!" Michaela bounced out of an armchair. "Our new client is a baby? Are you kidding me? Why are you, guys, all speechless?" She starred at the others, who were still in shock.

"Our new client, Miss Pratt, will be here in a few minutes," answered Annalise in an irritated manner.

"Is it yours?" suddenly Laurel constrained herself to speak, looking at Frank frowningly.

"What?" re-asked Frank and, catching her glance, laughed. "O, the baby… No, of course not. It's the son of our new client. When she be there, we'll explain all things," He smiled, watching Laurel started smile too. "This boy, by the way, is sleeping like a dog. Nothing can wake him up."

Laurel couldn't keep the curiosity. She moved forward and sat on the couch next to the cradle. Frank peaked out the sheer 'curtain', and Laurel saw the absolutely sweet baby, enjoying a balmy sleep. He was wearing a blue and white romper and a biggin in rhyme to the romper. His cute black eyelashes trembled in his sleep. The baby-boy put his little thumb in his mouth instead of the soother. It was very tasty, obviously.

"He's just adorable," whispered Laurel, can't stop smiling and trying to be serious at the same time. She wanted to wake him up and hug to jelly so badly.

"Oh please, tell me we are not going to patronize this little monster!" exclaimed Michaela, looking into the cradle. Her pretty face became wicked. Just fancy! They are the top of their group, they are working with serious crimes, serious offenders… She is literally laughing in face to her fellow students. They are so losers compare to her. And now… To be a guardian of the little screaming baby-boy just because Annalise wanted so. Oh, so humiliating!

"It's exactly what are you going to do, Miss Pratt," said Annalise with a blank face. "When I was your age student, I did an awful work, helping to the old skilled lawyer, who, obviously, had already been mad as a March hare. But I didn't say a word! Even if he thought, that I was his housemaid and made me clean all his house completely. I'd been working days and nights! I was his housemaid, his secretary… I just wanted to _learn. _And to get a good job. So, if I am asking you to protect the baby of our client – just do it!" She stopped speaking and looked at her wrist watch. "Missis Coleman will be here in any minute. So, if you want to quit – do it right now. Say goodbye to the Keating fifth."

Her five students were sitting in the living room speechless and a little terrified. Nobody wanted to quit.

"Fine," Annalise said, taking off her clutch coat. "Before we start… I really need a volunteer, who can be with baby a couple of days. Because I need the rest of you for the investigation, it won't be easy this time. The board of trustees gave us a right to take care of the baby by ourselves before the judicial examination. It was explicitly stated that if we are not win this case, and the poor mother of this child will go to the jail, he will get into the orphan. So I want to know, who can claim responsibility for the baby, while I and the four of you will try to help his mother."Annalise gave her students a searching look.

Laurel got chocked up with tears. She could feel them fixing up in her throat.

"I'm a volunteer," Laurel said strong.

She wanted to protect this little boy from all the misfortunes, surrounding him around. She did know she could handle with it.


End file.
